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ON BANNING BOXING

The AMA will have an account of which state legislatures considered the ban on boxing and the results. I testified before a subcommittee of the Minnesota Legislature. Ironically, four or five of the commissioners identified themselves as former “boxers.” Each shared what that meant; there were a total of 20 fights or fewer for the entire group, but it shows how macho boxing is considered.

Subsequently, a local radio station had a morning call-in show discussing the ban on boxing, and I was asked to respond to a concern expressed by one of the commissioners: “You told the subcommittee that Mohammad Ali's speech was badly impaired because of multiple boxing injuries. But how do you explain that he can talk to his speech therapist?” The commissioner had also been a boxer, obviously.

It would be a good idea to have the AAN delegate to the AMA another resolution asking the AMA to vigorously pursue its policy to ban boxing by approaching state legislatures or Congress to take action.